


Have You Seen Me?

by Misthiel



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesia, Cemetery, Detectives, F/F, In some point during series 12, Kinda, Minor Violence, Missing Persons, Not on the tags because spoilers!, Some enemies are back, Thirteen doesn't remember Clara
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 04:00:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28736874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misthiel/pseuds/Misthiel
Summary: After travelling across the universe, Clara's back on Earth. As a detective, she's trying to help people of a small town to solve the inexplicable disappearance of some kids. But the investigation is turned upside down when someone from her past appears, someone who doesn't (and shouldn't!) remember her. Someone who's always surrounded by the most unexpected menaces...Well it can't be too difficult solving a crime and keeping the Doctor away from danger when you are one of the threats... right??
Relationships: The Doctor & Clara Oswin Oswald, The Doctor (Doctor Who)/Clara Oswin Oswald, Thirteenth Doctor & Clara Oswin Oswald, Thirteenth Doctor/Clara Oswin Oswald
Comments: 15
Kudos: 35





	1. Missing

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone reading! II started to write this months ago, then abandoned it, then I got back at it... And that repeated several times. But inspiration is back and I finished it! At least what I consider it to be the first part of a longer story.
> 
> I just love the concept of Thirteen meeting past companions and the potential with Clara is huge, so I wanted to give it a try. And I also love detectives, so why not? I think it suits her. The first chapters might be a bit light, but there's also drama, I promise.
> 
> It's te first time I commit to write something longer than a chapter, so have mercy. xD I'll try to update it regularly, and the chapters you see as limit are the ones written. 
> 
> So I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it!  
> I always appreciate comments and feedback and if you see something weird, nice reminder that I'm not a native speaker. :S

It's not easy to make a living when you're an immortal.

Clara missed being a teacher, even if those kids used to drive her crazy. She really missed them. And correcting their English homework was easier than finding a bunch of missing persons.

At that moment, Clara had her head buried in her arms, resting on a rickety desk. She lifted her head heavily and blinked several times before squinting at the white board in front of her. Smiling faces looked back at her from their photos, with disheveled hairstyles from playing for too long on the streets. A glimmer of hope tinted their childish eyes, a hope that had vanished with them a long ago. Sadly, she knew most of the kids. Everyone knew each other there, for good and for bad, and every disappearance felt personal.

The town Clara lived in was small and had had a country-like air, all surrounded by charming fields. Exactly what she needed after years of traveling from one end of the universe to the other and staggering through time. Returning to Earth before taking off again wouldn’t hurt her, right?

Or that was the initial plan, completely crushed and discarded the moment Clara decided that she couldn’t stand still. After finding peace during a few months there, the problems of the people caught her attention, a cry of HELP got stuck on her mind. She did not hesitate to try solving them; standing still wasn't her style. That was the reason she became a detective, but sometimes she hated and blamed her past self for that decision.

"C’mon, you just have to find the connection, it can't be that complicated!", she protested to herself. "Same place, same time..."

Clara lowered her gaze and her eyes met a familiar look hidden behind the glass of a frame. A smile grew on her face, filling her mind with moments of a time long past. She took that photo without him knowing. That "Clara, Clara, Clara..." still floated like an echo on her memory.

"I will do the right thing, promised. You would have fixed it and so I will.” She touched the man’s nose on the picture. “And you know I’ll do it, because I'm more stubborn than you! But first..."

She sighed and stood up, turning around, looking for something on the messy office. When she found it, she snapped her fingers and picked her black leather jacket from the back of the door.

"…I think I'll need a coffee." she said while putting her jacket on and heading to the door of her TARDIS. Behind her, she left the smiling images of those who had disappeared, but even if she tried, they were not easily erased from her mind.

__________________________________

An antique atmosphere flooded the café, comforting and welcoming. Clara had spent more than one afternoon there, desperate attempts to get away from her job. She knew well that was a duty she had chosen, so she couldn't complain, but most of the time, making a difference was tough. And lonely.

Clara didn't have many friends there, but her relationship with her neighbours wasn´t terrible either. Whenever she saw her, the nice old Gloria always reproached her "Young girl, you always look so tired! I see it in your eyes. You should go to the doctor once in a while... ".

The girl always answered with a soft smile, masking the real feelings those two words awoke in her. “The Doctor”. Even if she could see him again, he wouldn’t really **see** her. His memories of their past together were lost in space, forgotten. Once he told her what could happen if someone came back from an induced amnesia… Too abruptly, without safety measures. He even seemed to talk as if he had gone through it. Or someone he knew.

That memory prevented Clara from looking for him. She didn’t want that to happen; she’d rather build a life without him than harm him once more. Not to mention that there wasn’t a single day her absent heartbeat reminded her that her heart was still frozen, and no doctor would like that. Especially him.

"The usual?" said a nice voice behind her. She startled and turned around, smiling to the red-haired waiter next to her.

"Oh, you know me very well, Sam. Yes, the usual, thanks."

The waiter smiled back and took some notes as she walked back to the kitchen. Clara stared at her for a moment, raising an eyebrow. _She's a nice girl_ , Clara thought _...but she´s only on her twenties, stop acting weird!_ Clara coughed and looked away. Time travel had changed everything on her life, made her understand some of the Doctor’s problems with humans. Living next to an immortal wasn’t everyone's cup of tea. Just like that, Clara had tried it and ended up becoming one, trapped in a frozen body for all eternity.

If she wouldn't have been so invested on her thoughts, the clatter of the door opening would have taken her out of them. It wasn't until her table trembled that she turned her attention back to the real world.

Without warning, an unknown blonde woman had thrown herself against the seat in front of Clara. Her messy hair hanged all over her face, but it didn’t seem to bother her. When the detective realized the woman tapping nervously her feet on the floor, she looked down; her dark blue trousers didn't reach, and Clara could see her uneven shocks – one was green and the other one, orange. She didn't fit in the café at all, not even in the town… if there was a place on Earth she could fit in looking like **that**. The detective stared at her with her eyes wide open, not understanding anything.

"Oh, hi!!" exclaimed the stranger as she put some hair behind her ear. "Mind of I sit with you? Well, actually I've already sat down, but some people value courtesy, so..."

Clara couldn't articulate a word. In the meanwhile, the peculiar woman in her thirties –or maybe forties?– had just decided to invite herself and kept throwing anxyous looks out the cafeteria windows.

"Excuse me, but who are you and what are you doing on my table??" Clara asked raising an eyebrow again.

"I was just searching for some... answers! Detective work. See? I really like the theme." The woman pointed proudly at her own soft brown trench coat. "But I’ve got the feeling that people here hate detectives, unless their way to show admiration is following them all over the town and shouting at them. And just because I took some quick notes on a wall, can you believe it! I even erased them later!"

Clara chuckled at the extravagant and rushed explanation and smiled under the confused look of the blonde.

"Well, the Mayor is a bit... picky," surely the woman was exaggerating, "but I can assure they don't hate investigators here, ‘cause that’s my job. The best in town, and it's my duty knowing whou you are."

The woman wrinkled her nose. “They pay you for hating investigators? That’s rude…”

“No… I don’t think that’s a job, at least from where I come from. I meant I’m a PI!”

Her face rapidly brightened with the light of understanding and clapped her hands with excessive energy.

"Oooh, great!! Smart girl, investigator. We'll get along!" The woman kept talking to Clara, but her gaze still wandered along the street. "I'm The Doctor, just that. And you, miss Holmes?"

At first, Clara didn't answer. Those two damn words again. “The Doctor”. But this time, it was different. It wasn’t a neighbor talking about a medic, or a random conversation caught on the street. This time it was a proper name. Her eyes widen in surprise, but luckily, the woman was too busy looking through the window. Clara felt as if all the air around her had suddenly vanished, and if her heart could stop beating again, it certainly would have, but anyway, she felt how the claws of unreality shank into her chest.

She had seen a lot during her travels, but Clara had never encountered the Doctor. Not again. It was better that way, better for him... well, now her... She wouldn't remember her, and she shouldn’t. For what Clara knew, even the innocent question about her name could be the spark that set her mind on fire. The detective tried to collect all her fears and doubts on a deep breath and act as normal as possible. She rebuilt her mask and put it on again.

"Okay, don’t mock me, but… that’s actually my last name. Holmes!” She shrugged. “Yeah, I know, I’m a walking joke.”

"Really?? I love a good coincidence, so, don’t worry!” The Doctor grinned. “But… don’t blame me if I pull a joke sometimes.”

The weight on her chest started to soothe when the smile on the woman’s lips didn’t disappear. “And you said you were just ‘the Doctor’?”

“Yep, easy name, very self-explanatory, right?” She pushed aside the question. “Now, I need you to help me with this. Some weird things have happened here recently, am I right?" She said leaning slightly over the table, secrecy on her voice and gestures.

Of course the Doctor knew, that madwoman had a sixth sense for trouble.

"Yes, you’re right. But… why should I trust you with them, Doctor? It’s my job and I must say, quite confidential, too. People’s lives are at stake, this is no joke." Clara shortened the distance between them, their faces only a few inches apart. She needed to know if she was really her Doctor. The one.

The Doctor felt a bit overwhelmed for the proximity at first, but after a few blinks, she kept talking. "Because I want to find them, **it's not fair**." The blonde fixed her eyes on hers, and in that moment, Clara knew it.

It was an apparently simple phrase, but it was enough for Clara. She knew it. Beyond those words, there were those deep golden eyes, full of experience and hope. They could look different, but the essence of that gaze was the same. Her eyes looked young and new, but felt ancient and tired at the same time, full of shades of both light and darkness.

"... And also, because I was very curious about the **crazy** artron energy readings on this town, something weird is going on here." The Doctor backed out and put her hands behind her neck. She couldn't hold her gaze for more time; this incarnation felt awkwardness far more quickly than the others.

Yes, now Clara was completely sure she was the Doctor. The woman couldn't avoid showing off and talking about her time travel knowledge, not even in front of a "stranger". Clara smiled through the mask of her new improvised identity, but at least she was meeting the Doctor again.

"Then we have a lot to talk about."


	2. Elementary, dear Holmes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's no investigation without clues to follow...

The PI was nice. She reminded the Doctor of someone, but she just couldn't get it right! She had it in the tip of her tongue and **_REALLY_** hated the feeling. Her mind was running around in circles, trapped in a small closed room with just enormous walls around her and not a clue of why this woman looked so familiar to her. She tried to bang at the doors of her previous incarnations’ memories, but apparently, they didn’t feel like collaborating. Sometimes, even she couldn’t stand herself.

They had left the café just after Clara had taken a moment to apologize to the waiter and order a coffee to go.

"We shouldn't talk about it here. Sensitive topic," the young woman had said, a shadow of sorrow falling on her eyes and accompanying her all the way to their destination. That was the only thing that stopped the Doctor from jumping inside a store that sold all the kinds of hats anyone could imagine. She might be socially awkward and unable to help, but she wasn’t a jerk.

But she would visit it as soon as she could, that was sure.

They were now sitting on a bench in the middle of a lonely park. Well, Clara was the only one following the proper definition of ‘to sit’, because the Doctor had decided to stay cross legged next to her. Birds were chirping around and even for the anxious nature of the Doctor, it felt like a sacrilege breaking the silence. In the meanwhile, Clara rummaged through her jacket, pulled a phone out, and after looking through the files for a while, tossed it to the Time Lord. In the screen there were five young faces.

"Ray, Thomas, Elena, Irene and Sienna.” The detective slowly pointed at each teen as she named them. “All from the town, between 11 and 15 years old."

"They all disappeared at the same time?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow, surprised.

"No, in different days. Sienna lives in my neighborhood, and she went missing the day before yesterday, but Ray... Ray disappeared almost six months ago. I had just arrived at the town."

"And they haven't shown up yet... Interesting." The Doctor looked up, panic striking her as she realized that maybe ‘interesting’ wasn't the right word. She had some social instinct, but most of the time it was too slow. " _Eeeh_ , when I say interesting, I mean worrying. Definitely worrying.” She nodded, reaffirming her words. “But interesting because it’s obvious these cases have to be connected and–"

"Don't worry, I got it." Giggling at her characteristic awkwardness, Clara put a hand over the Doctor's shoulder. "A friend of mine did the same. He got excited over small things."

"Oh, really? Small things are the best, very clever that friend of yours! Is he from the town?"

Again, something Clara shook her head and looked away for a moment, trying to hide the sad tone that threatened to take hold of her smile. She didn’t need that in that moment.

"No, let's say... our paths parted long ago. I don't think he would even remember me now."

"Well, one never knows what the others remember of them. A true mystery."

"In my case I'm sure he doesn't." And after that, Clara sighed.

"Don't lose hope, Holmes. There’s always place for surprise in this life." The Doctor smiled widely and something deep inside Clara thanked her for that.

“But back to our case... Is there anyone investigating this apart from you? And... You have any info about where they disappeared?"

Clara resigned herself. She was doing it unconsciously, trying to make her remember, and that had been a stupid move. As dumb as she was. She knew the dangers and how that could end up hurting the Doctor. And the detective didn't want that. She took some air and...

"Right. The local police have some of the cases open, but they refuse to link them. And I've tried everything to convince them! I can’t even access their registers of the testimonies.” Clara sighed. “I had to take them myself.”

“That doesn’t sound easy…”

“No, it’s not and I have to pay a visit to Sienna’s family. But it’s the only way I got to investigate. I’m on my own.”

There was a moment of silence between them and this time, it was the Doctor who covered Clara’s shoulders, in an improvised embrace. It seemed to her that woman was giving everything she had to solve that mystery, to bring some happiness or peace to these families. No doubt that was the kind of people she liked to meet on her travels across time and space.

“Well, not anymore! You can count on me now,” she stood up with an energetic jump, hands on her hips, just to stop wandering near the bench. “You said **we** have one statement left to take, right? I’m brilliant at talking.”

Clara raised her eyebrows and wondered why she was so surprised. It was the Doctor, same overwhelming enthusiasm that she now showed more than ever. Her expression may have been a bit confusing, because the blonde woman began to look around him with unease.

“If you agree, of course. Doing things twice would be a bit dumb, I’d rather form an alliance, huh?”

“To be honest…” she wrinkled her nose. ”I'm not really in the mood for more interviews than necessary, so count on me.

“Then we have a plan! I love a good plan." Without warning, she started to stride lively. "I'll be your Watson, c'mon!!"

The woman caught Clara off guard, who rushed to caught up with her. She had forgotten the Doctor was **that** energetic. "Hey! You better let Holmes guide you, dear Watson!"

* * *

“So… is it here?”

With inquisitive eyes, the Doctor was examining the house in front of them. White paint covered its front, interrupted by several windows, all covered with dark curtains.

“Yes, but it’s never looked sadder…” Clara sighed. “For what I know, they’ve always been quite reserved as a family, but this?”

“Well, let’s try to bring some light to them, or see if they can throw some on the facts.”

Clara raised an eyebrow, giving her a curious glance.

“Sure you aren’t a detective? Because you sound like one.”

“Now that you mention it…” The Doctor began to wander. “I got a title for that on the planet of Tiralfai? Nice place, but with an excessive amount of crimes. Although I'm not sure if it will be useful on Earth, and don't tell anyone, but it might be expired.”

“Don’t worry,” Clara shook her head, with an amused smile on her lips. “I’ve got all covered.”

With the resolve of who goes through the same experience almost every day, the investigator knocked on the door and took a step back, waiting for an answer.

A bashful dark face peeked out of the gap in the half-opened gate. A man on his thirties glanced at the two women and a ray of distress crossed his expression.

“Are you two with the police?” the man sighed, staring at the Doctor. “Because I’ve already spoke to them and my husband is resting.”

His eyes went from the Doctor to Clara and when he focused on her, his expression transformed. It wasn’t cheerful, neither sad, but there was despair on it.

“That means…” his look fell to the ground before raising again, fixed on the brunette. He opened the door completely, suggesting they could enter. The Doctor sneaked behind them and got distracted with the first object she encountered.

“Yes… It could be related to the other… events.” Clara admitted as she got closer to him, trying to comfort him by placing a hand on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Eddie, but you know I need all the possible help and…”

“… and the Mayor is again complicating your work, I imagine.” Clara nodded and the man closed the door behind them. After casting a suspicious look to the Doctor, who smiled back and returned to her mind world, he guided them towards the living room. “But there’s not much I can offer, she just…”

Eddie’s voice broke just before he stopped speaking. With a gesture, he excused himself and disappeared into the kitchen. Moment that Clara didn’t waste.

“Pshh, Doctor!”, she rushed next to her, giving her a look she could have given a fidgety student. “We need to focus on this, please, don’t be weird around him.”

As if Clara didn't know that confused and slightly outraged woman next to her. She should have made some “socially correct” cards before bringing her to the house of a broken family. To be honest, she wouldn’t have had the time, so they’d have to sort it out with what they had. They always did, right? And the cards didn’t work that well last time. She’d have to trust the Doctor.

“Oi! I’m not weird!” The Doctor titled her head at the expression on Holmes’ face. “Okay, maybe a bit socially awkward, but I can deal with that. Now,” she stared directly at the other’s eyes, putting her hands on both her shoulders. “You, social skills; me, observing genius. Best team, now go!”

Before Clara could react, the Doctor had made her turn around and Eddie had just returned. Trying to resist the urge to see what the blonde was doing, the detective smiled at the man.

“Feeling better?”

“I just… just needed some water.”

Clara followed Eddie to the sofa, placed on the center of the room, next to a coffee table in which rested a pile of “Have you seen me?” posters with Sienna’s image on it. The man turned his gaze away from there as soon as they sat down.

“Again, I’m sorry, Eddie…” she sighed, “but when did you last see her?”

“On Friday’s morning, when she left for class. Mark prepared her lunch while I was working on the office next door, from home.” The man shook his head and his fingers turned into a fist, resting on his lap. “If only I had left my work to say goodbye…”

Clara bit her lip; that was the worst part of the job, and the loneliest, too. Everyone is alone when a dear one vanishes. No matter how others accompany you, no matter how many empty promises of compassion and comfort you receive. Even if you can escape from that bubble of reality, it doesn’t matter how fast can you fly and run, run away from everything. You’re stuck, trapped on the moment when that person stopped being part of you. ‘Time heals’, people say. Easier said than done. What if every second turns into a month, and a month in a year, a year in ten… and nothing changes? You live wishing and fearing the day in which you will look at their picture and with a simple smile, you will keep going, living a new story.

And it haunted her to see others struggling against this avalanche of contradictory emotions.

Clara gave Eddie a moment to recover and looked at the Doctor out of the corner of her eye. She was checking some pictures on a shelf, like they meant the world to her.

With a bit of luck, Sienna’s parents wouldn’t have to deal with their daughter not recognising them.

“So,” Clara tried to continue the conversation, checking her notes. “It was at night when you reported her missing, right?” She looked up to catch him nodding. “Fine, any idea where she could have gone that afternoon?”

“She had piano classes, but she didn’t go th-.” Eddie answer was interrupted by a sudden voice from behind them.

The Doctor, frame on hand, was facing them. She stared at an undetermined point mid-air, lost on her deductions.

“Is this Sienna’s ball?”

The blonde pointed at the picture, taken in front of the house, in which two girls smiled at the camera. Next to their feet, there was the ball.

“Yeah, she always carried it with her to play at recess, why?” Eddie didn’t seem to trust that blonde woman snooping around his house and he was about to complain when she cut him off again.

“And there is a football field outside the town, right??”

“Yes, but Doctor, maybe Eddie is not-“

The blonde only payed attention to the affirmation and turned around, looking at the floor with a hand on her chin. “I know where she went! Look.” She rushed to the shelf, full of frames with their respective pictures. “Thomas and Elena are on this, and… Irene and Ray on these. And other kids. Same kids, same place; the football field. She went there and then she disappeared, I’m hundred percent sure!”

“But she would never miss a class!” the man jumped, overwhelmed by the amount of missing faces next to her child’s image. “You, ma’am, are just throwing meaningless theories around and you don’t do that on MY house!”

The Doctor was about to respond when Clara stood between them. “Okay, Eddie, calm down, I’ll deal with her. We don’t want Mark to wake up, right?” She guided him back to the sofa and handed him a box of tissues. “We are going now, thanks for everything. I’ll do my best.”

Without thinking it twice, Clara grabbed the Doctor by the arm. She dragged her out of the house and across the courtyard while ignoring her complaints about her being right. When they got far enough away, she replied.

“I know you’re right, Doctor! But you can’t just talk about the disappearances like they were a fun mystery in front of families!”

The Doctor opened her mouth several times, trying to find a proper answer. But none was good enough.

“Okay, I’m sorry…” She tapped her feet trying to channel her excitement. “But you admitted I was right,” she added as she looked directly at Clara’s eyes, intrigued and getting really close to her, their noses almost touching. “What’s on that pretty mind of yours, detective?”

The Doctor either avoided all contact or was unaware of any personal space. There was no in between. Not that Clara would complain, but that complicated her train of thought.

Clara coughed and took a step back, regaining her composure.

“The other kids, they all went missing on the north of the town. Where the football field is.”

“That supports my theory, then!” the Doctor exclaimed like she had just won on a boardgame. “Is there anything else there?

“Apart from that, some houses. It's mostly a place where kids play.” She stopped to think for an instant. “Well, there’s also a way out of the town, to the cemetery. But I’ve already searched all the area and there’s nothing…”

“I’m sure you did, but I’ve got this feeling that I could add something to this investigation. So, we have a place, a fantastic lead! You mind if we go there and have a look?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, now that we have some leads, let's see where they take them...


	3. The Sharpest Scream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's all about memories.

The noonday sun fell on their heads as they walked, but luckily, a light wind refreshed the atmosphere. The Doctor couldn't avoid feeling ecstatic, even if they were investigating a serious matter. In the middle of her excitement, she glanced at Holmes out of the corner of her eye. The sun made her brown hair look lighter, like reddish highlights garnished it. Something about her hasty, lightweight gait felt familiar. She looked determined, like many other people the Doctor had known. So brave and kind; **unstoppable**. “ _You need to push her away after this, Doctor. You can’t afford this, you know?” “Oh, shut up, I’m trying to focus here??” “You’ll end up hurting her...”_

“Oh, shut up!” The Doctor hissed.

“You said something?” Clara had stopped and turned around, frowning in confusion.

“No, no, nothing. You heard something? ‘Cause I didn’t.”

“My imagination, then.” The detective shouldn’t be on the mood of asking more, because she didn’t insist on the matter. Instead, she pointed in front of her. “Here we are, Doctor.”

The Doctor took a few steps forward. Surrounding them, the landscape looked full of color: the sandy football field contrasted with the thousand shades of green that decorated the trees and small bushes. The cemetery and a small Romanesque church attached to it, next to the road, broke in two the views, everything crowned by a blue sky.

"Wow... This is beautiful..." The Doctor said, her eyes shining with admiration. She turned to Holmes, and caught the PI looking at her, but she didn't give it a second thought. Unlike Clara, who’s face turned slightly red just before she gazed away.

"So... this is the place??" The Doctor asked and without waiting for an answer, she took out her sonic and started buzzing around.

"Yep, but... I think you already know that." She smirked at the sight of the sonic.

"Oh, this? Quite useful, built it myself! But this place is so big, it's complicated..." The Doctor admitted as she waved the sonic in frustration.

"Well, I say we check the…” Clara bit her lip, pondering, “… cemetery, maybe? Most suspicious place, even though I’ve already been there.”

"It's a cemetery, being suspicious it's part of their nature. I talked with one once and it wasn't nice." And she sauntered towards the front wall of the enclosure.

"Yes, apart from that obvious reason..." Clara couldn't hide a smile listening to the Doctor talk like that. She had missed it. "Oh, the other day I caught some teens hiding between the tombs, probably as a dare or a game?"

"Yeah, kids don't usually listen to cemeteries" she stuck her arm through the rusty bars of the high entrance fence, scanning the air with the sonic. "A bit reckless of them! And..." She glanced at the readings. "Eureka! I think we got it, this place stinks to artron energy! Now we need to find a way to get past this door. If I can adjust the sonic–"

"Don’t worry, my dear Watson, my intellect can solve this riddle." Clara smirked as she put one arm pass the Time Lord's shoulder and pushed the fence, which opened with a metallic sound. "It's always open, for better or for worse" She shrugged and stepped inside, leaving the Doctor at the entrance trying to collect her pride.

“Nonsense, if you had let me scan the door I’d have realized, too…”

“Sure, Doctor…” Clara scoffed, starting to disappear among the tombstones.

White and black tiles alternated, making the place look like a giant chess board. The place was full of symbols from numerous beliefs or simply memories, statues here and there. A peculiar place, notably different from the typical Christian cemetery. Everyone had their right place to rest or mourn.

The Doctor rambled down the path, studying her surroundings. From the smallest tomb to the most extravagant mausoleum, they looked all the same: a place to visit those who were gone. She would never have one of those. People walked away from her constantly, and the ones who left willingly were exceptions. Most of the time, the last memory she had of them was a pair of watery eyes or the echo of their screams in the distance. No chance to properly mourn them, opening hole after on her soul, leaving her alone with the pain of an open wound that never heals. Therefore, in her mind, she turned them into stars. Her constant companions, always shining, always there.

The Doctor had never been good at saying goodbye.

She forced herself to abandon her thoughts to cross her gaze with Clara, a few yards ahead, who was picking some fallen flowers from the ground. With a broken smile, she placed them next to a white tombstone. Afterwards, the woman stood there, lost-sighed and biting her nails.

With short steps, the Doctor got closer to her and took a deep breath.

"Someone you knew?" she speculated.

With a slight jump, Clara turned around to face the Doctor. She exhaled, almost relieved to find her there.

"Well, they’re not...” She mumbled with quavering voice. “Yes, sadly. They’re not actually here, it's just a reminder of them. They were... two people I loved. Maybe too much." She put a hand on the stone, caressing the polished surface.

Clara cleared her voice quickly, but that couldn’t erase the tightness on her throat, the claws of sorrow taking hold of her again. The Doctor stood there, in silence, not knowing how to act, what to say. She felt useless, but deep down, she knew the best was letting the detective speak.

“Both are gone now, each in their own way… because of me loving them. Sometimes I think that’s the problem, you know? I find someone, fall in love and hope it'll be perfect. Then I end up acting impulsively and those around me run away… or pay the price for my emotions.” She waved her head and looked back at the Doctor. “I’m so sorry, you’ve just met me and I’m doing it again and-”

“No, no. It’s okay, I- I’ve been there.” The Doctor started fidgeting with the sleeve of her trench coat, trying to find the proper words. But before she could say anything, Clara stood up, her eyes fixed on a faraway spot, blood leaving her face at the vision.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong, Holmes?”

Her word got lost on the air, like the PI hadn’t heard them, because she circled the Doctor and strolled away "Doctor! Next to that statue!"

The Doctor turned around, just to see Clara holding a rickety soccer ball with a blurry 'Sienna' written on it.

"It's hers. It was here, it had to be here!" she yelled before going silent for a moment, her voice turning tremulous. “But this wasn’t… no, this wasn’t here when I–” Clara blinked several times, looking at the ball like it was the only object on the universe.

Before the Doctor could move, a scream cut through the air, followed by the sound of a ball bouncing down a path. Clara was on her knees, her gaze fixed on the ground while her trembling hands prevented her from collapsing on the concrete floor.

The Doctor run to her, all her alarms going off and almost falling next to her. With the utmost care, she tried to hold Clara’s face.

"Hey, Holmes, can you hear me? Look at me.” The blonde raised the girl’s face softly, trying not to show concern on her moves; that was the last they needed in that moment. When their eyes meet, she could sense the terror all around the detective’s mind. A lonely tear streamed down her cheek as the detective held on to the Time Lord’s arms.

“I’m here, no one else. Just us. “The Doctor cleaned it with her sleeve and give her a slight smile. The cold had taken hold of her skin; she blamed the shock. After a few seconds, the girl’s breathing became steadier, but didn’t resolve completely. “That’s better… What happened?”

“I saw her, Doctor…” Clara gasped. “She was there and then–“

“Who? **Who** did you saw?” the blonde added, impatience reflecting on her voice.

“Sienna… Doctor, I saw her right here, so alive! She– she was running after that ball,” Clara pointed at the fallen toy at the end of the path, “and when she got it, she looked up and…” Her voice broke again, breathless.

“You got this, Holmes. I’m here, that’s gone now. But I need you to tell me everything.”

Clara nodded and took some air.

“She looked up and she vanished, with the sharpest scream I’ve heard. There was so much fear in her voice, I just can’t… I can't fail her, I can’t fail **them**."

"And you won't. This is a huge clue, Holmes, I know exactly what to do.” The Doctor offered a hand to help her stand. “Trust me, I know where we must go next.”

When they went back to the path, a shiver run down the Doctor’s spine. Something on the corner on her eye, a tickle on her nape who froze her usually hyperactive thoughts. There was something wrong. Absolutely and entirely **wrong**. It was subtle, but the Doctor could feel it. The air blew different, and around them, the leaves didn't fall the same way.

"It has moved." She muttered.

Still recovering herself, Clara frowned and followed the woman's gaze to a point not far from them. If they had looked there a few seconds before, that point would have been further.

“But that’s impossible!” She exclaimed, laughing in disbelief.

A winged statue stood between two tombstones, with dark bindweeds covering and falling from its arms like ragged sleeves. The delicate pale hands met on the same spot: in front of its eyes, covering them like the statue was weeping.

"Holmes, we have to go. Now." The Doctor grabbed her by the arm without further explanation and run back to the main path without turning her back.

"But, what does..."

The Time Lord didn't stop. "I said NOW." Her voice had lost all positivity and comfort, now replaced by concern. By fear. "I'll give you the answers later, now I have to get you out of here. Don't let that angel out of your sight!"


	4. Keeping The Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a promise to keep, but... at what cost?

Still breathing heavily, the Doctor closed the gate of the cemetery tightly and checked it at least 5 times, in an obsessive way. She even used the sonic to secure the lock.

She turned around and found Clara staring at her with her crossed arms, demanding an explanation.

“Quickly, what do you have on your pockets?”

Clara doubted for a moment and checked her pockets, holding every object she took out of them.

“Ehh… My phone, but I’m not giving you that,” she warned as she picked a gun from her belt and a torch from her jacket. “This is all I have, why?”

“Perfect!”, the Doctor exclaimed, stealing the flashlight from her hands. She began to tinker next to the stone wall, breaking the torch into pieces. “And put that gun away, no shootings on my presence.”

“I wasn't planning to use it, I got it… just in case.” Clara muttered as she put it back on her holster.

The Doctor didn’t try to to enforce her view on the issue again. Instead, she got up with a jump.

“Okay, done. I this will hold them on cemetery as long as the door is closed. Now, work to do!”

“But, Doctor!” She demanded as the blonde walked away. “You can't expect me to follow you without knowing what's going on, not after that! What’s wrong with that statue?”

She stopped on her tracks and sighed.

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry, but time flies. There’s something I need to figure out. Trust me, please.”

“Okay, fine.” Clara let her arms fall to her sides; she didn’t want to argue, at least not at that moment. The vision had drained all the energy out of her. “But if you don’t give me a reasonable excuse..”

“YES, THANKS. I’ll explain it, I promise!”

The Doctor slid her hand to take Clara’s, making the woman stumble at her energetic pulling, laughing with surprise.

She _really_ had missed this.

And while the two women ran away, getting lost among the nearest houses, a hooded figure came out of the trees surrounding the cemetery. A pleased smile was drawn on his face as he watched them leave, digging into his jacket pocket, fidgeting with something inside.

* * *

It wasn’t long until they reached their destination, but enough time for the sun to break in a million pieces and spread out across the darkening sky. A million thoughts bubbled on Clara’s mind, all of them focused on sorting out the recent events. The bounce of the ball, a high-pitched child scream, the pressure on her temples and air slowly coming back to her lungs as a pair of gentle hands had taken her out of the vision. Not having the reassuring beating of her heart slowing down, telling her how her body stabilized, was the worst thing to put panic away.

But the Doctor had managed to solve that part.

In front of her, the lively figure of the blonde was prancing towards a discreet alley. “This way, chop-chop!”

Joy reflected again on her tone, proving Clara right; the Doctor was still hiding behind her usual façade. After all these years, she kept doing it. Maybe if she didn’t know the Time Lord so well, she wouldn’t have realized and would have let it go, taking her unpredictable attitude as the delirium of a madwoman. But there was so much more in there.

To be honest, who else besides the Doctor would stick her ear to a blue police box door and whisper to it before pushing it wide open?

Clara smiled, amused. Back when she travelled with the Doctor, she found an inexplicable pleasure in going one step ahead of him and in that moment, she could say she was in terms of memory. The human coughed slightly, catching the other’s attention. “We’re really going in there?”

“Trust me, it looks tiny, but it’s the nicest place you’ll find on this town. It can fit more than two people, promised,” she bragged as the yellowish light of the inside of the TARDIS brightened her face.

With slow steps and acted caution, Clara approached the Doctor. “Oh, I wouldn’t complain if there wasn’t a lot of space.” She shrugged her shoulders and put on a playful look.

The Doctor frowned and left her mouth open for a moment, like the words had escaped her throat and were floating around her with no way of getting them back. “But that would be… ehh… quite uncomfortable, _right_?” She babbled and blinked several times before all the thoughts came to place. “No, wait! You mean…?”

Abruptly, Clara put on a surprised face and jumped into the TARDIS, leaving the Doctor alone with her new-found words.

“But how is _THIS_ possible?!,” the detective blurted. She danced around the ship’s console. Half of her surprise was part of a performance, but she couldn’t fake the fascination the new organic nature of the TARDIS gave her. Last time she stood there, books covered the walls and half of the stairs, decorating the metal surface full of circular patterns. In this new interior, there was no trace of this Gallifreyan words, no more stories written all around the ceiling. Instead, the ship felt more alive than ever, almost as she breathed in an out, twinkling with every step she took.

From the door, the Doctor stared at the human, following her effortless movements around the place. A chance to brag a little more pushed her previous confused thoughts aside.

“So… what do you think?! Truly amazing, huh?” She scrunched her nose and stepped inside, closing the door after her.

“Oh, yes!” she grinned, almost in a contagious way. “My entire understanding of physical space has been transformed! It’s… bigger on the inside!”

The expression unlocked some buried memories on the Doctor’s mind, who strode to the center of the room and got closer to Clara.

“Exactly! Oh, I’ve missed that. Just bigger on the inside! I don’t know why everyone started to twist the concept, it’s not that complex.” The Doctor winked at the girl and turned around, making the back of her trench coat float behind her.

“Well, I learned from the best…” Clara followed the blonde around the console.

“Not to brag, but I’m probably the best on the matter. No one on Earth could prepare you for this!”

“Hmm…” she muttered. “You’d be surprised... eh, Doctor?”

When the detective had a look at the other side of the controls, she only found silence. The Doctor wasn’t there anymore, she was alone with the echo of her slow steps broke it, giving her a feeling of strangeness.

“Whoa, be careful!” A voice called her from her feet, making her stumble. Inside a hole on the floor, the Doctor was pulling out various unidentified tools with ease. “Some of us are trying to work down here.”

She put on a reproachful face that seconds later broke into a friendly chuckle.

Clara sighed and waved her head. “You’re hopeless, aren´t you?”

“Well…” she pondered, “depending on the meaning. A disaster? Probably. But without hope?” she got out of the floor with a jump. “Never. That’s why I was looking for _this_!”

The Doctor held proudly a pile of cables and metallic pieces and before Clara could ask, she had thrown herself at the console, where she started tinkering. Her hands shifted through the hundred connections and panels of the ship, joining wires and pushing buttons like she knew the instructions by memory. In moments like this, the Doctor’s mind bubbled with schemes of predefined knowledge, just to be destroyed by brilliant improvisation seconds later. That’s how she worked, in a chaotic but logic dance around the ship.

Now leaning on a column, Clara admired the spirited movements of the Time Lord. She would never admit it, but she couldn’t avoid looking at her, spellbound. The whole scenery reminded her of that first Doctor she met, always going off the rails with a smile on his face. But she had dashes of that other Doctor of hers, too. In her demeanor, one could see the integrity of that grumpy grey-haired man, too. For some people, he could old in appearance. Nevertheless, on the inside he was younger than any other. She had taken that from him.

A stroke of reality took her out of her thoughts, reminding her that minutes ago they had escaped from a mysterious enemy. Well, unknown at least for her. She pondered her words before speaking, trying to make the correct question.

“Eh, Doctor…”

“Hmm?” She raised her eyes from a bunch of tangled wires, nodding at her.

“Any idea on why I had that... vision?”

“Oh, I’m glad you ask that, still figuring things out, but that one? I already got it. I’ll go straight to the point.” She spoke with ringing voice, her explaining gestures blending into her tinkering. “The Angels took Sienna by touching her. They move when you aren’t looking, that’s why you didn’t see them act on your vision and neither did we! Long story, but the ball was the last object she held, so the residual energy of the moment got trapped on it. It’s not common, but sometimes, it happens. And that’s when we come into picture!”

“How, exactly? I assume I freed all that energy; it’s gone now…”

“Not gone, it just… _moved_ , to put it simply. Now, give me a sec.” The Doctor pressed some buttons and lights turned on across the structure she had been building. “Done! Now, I need your head.”

“My _what_?” Clara almost yelled, completely out of the conversation.

“Your _head_.” The Doctor remarked, as if it was the most obvious answer. “To be more specific, your mind, but no need to remove your brain from your skull. That would be messy.”

She sighed at the confused look the detective was throwing her.

“We need to dive _into_ your memories, find the remains of what you saw. Only then maybe I can locate to _when_ Sienna was sent. I won't risk making another visit to the angels.”

This time, it was in Clara’s head where the alarms went of. It seemed like the universe wanted to thwart her plans, because she had a promise to keep and if the Doctor looked in her mind, all would have been useless. _“No time to panic now. Fake it ‘till you make it, that always works.”_ The detective bit her lip and closed the distance between her and the Doctor with doubtful steps.

“Ehh… You sure that’s a good idea?”

“A hundred percent, I built it myself!”

“Yeah, in five minutes with wires and spoons, mostly. Not helping, Doctor.”

“Oi!” She complained. After taking a deep breath, she added, “you’ve seen statues moving and you’re standing inside a whole new universe that fits into a box. Trust me with this too. For the kids?”

Clara nodded and the corners of her mouth slid upwards. “Fine. You really have done a lot for me in so little time. You’re probably the first person who has _really_ listened to me in months, so” She raised her eyes and glanced directly at the Doctor, “in case something goes wrong with my memories…”

Without warning, the detective pulled her into a strong hug, sliding her arms around the Time Lord’s waist, who raised her own hands in surprise. It had been a long since someone had stepped that closer to her, because she always kept the distance. Hugs reminded her of goodbyes, of betrayals and she was not yet free of that sensation. She couldn’t deny there was something comforting on that act, so she didn’t break it.

The hug didn’t last longer. Just before stepping back, Clara muttered some words.

“Thanks for everything… and please, forgive me.”

“What do you mean–“

The sudden and agile movement of Clara’s arms cut her off and the next image she perceived was a yellow burst accompanied by an electronic sound. A puff of smoke surged between them as some lively steps headed to the door.

Absorbed in her own plan, the detective threw herself to the door and once she was outside, closed it. In front of her, held by her own hand, the girl contemplated the sonic screwdriver she had just stolen from the Doctor’s coat during the hug. Mumbling another apology, she pointed it at the door. Afterwards, she leaned on the bluish wood and whispered a few words, exactly as the blonde woman had done some minutes ago.

“Hey, hello, old girl. We both ended up getting along pretty well, so please... She has suffered enough because of me. Don’t let her out.” A faint glimmer of electricity slipped through her fingers, serving as an answer. And a signal, followed by a tremor hitting the door.

“Oswald, stop right there!”, the blonde shouted on a breathy voice.

So, she ran away. Clara rushed out of the alley and walked straight into the night.

She was keeping the promise.


	5. Stone Cold Body

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where questions are the main characters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies! I had a lot of work this week and forgot completely about updating. But here it is! 
> 
> Thank you so, so much for the comments and for reading, it means a lot! :D

A chill wind hissed over the fences of the cemetery, carrying the fallen leaves through the night. After checking she was alone, Clara pointed the sonic at the entrance, hoping to unlock the door the Doctor had closed. Luckily, the setting hadn’t changed, and the metal clicked under the amber light of the device. The door cracked open under her fingers, throwing a resounding screech into the darkness. A shiver ran down her spine, not knowing whether to blame the cold or the atmosphere she was heading into.

Only the moon illuminated the path they had followed that afternoon, white tiles shining brighter than ever in contrast with their siblings, squared pieces of void. Confident of being able to retrace the same steps and taking advantage of the warm light of the sonic, Clara walked straight into the cemetery.

She couldn’t offer the Doctor her mind, so the search for Sienna was again her own problem. And the angels were the answer, they were the only connection to her she had left.

There were many occasions in the past when she didn’t pay attention to the Doctor and instead, jumped straight into danger. But this time it was different. The Doctor could scream and curse her invented name if that pleased her. She wouldn’t listen. At least, Clara Oswald wouldn’t do it, a shadow deep buried on the Time Lord’s mind for her own good. With a pinch of luck, maybe erased forever.

Clara was dead and Holmes was just a ghost, one additional reflection of that Oswald who wandered all across an infinite timeline trapped in Trenzanlore. Always imprisoned, always looking for the Doctor, their destinies bounded. Forever.

Then… who was she?

Clara shook her head, clinging to the last bits of concentration she had left. She could _not_ afford to be distracted, not in a place like that, surrounded with lonely assassins she didn’t even fully understand yet. She focused on the statues, absent for the moment, not a trace of them. If the Doctor was right –and she wasn’t foolish enough as to believe she wasn’t– they could be anywhere. Even looking for their next victim, hunting…

Her own mistake stabbed her right into the chest like a poisonous arrow, spreading the venom of doubt all over her body. _The door of the cementery. She left it opened._ The responsibility fell over her, realizing all the innocent souls sleeping on the town were at their mercy. Because of her.

“Shit!”, the detective hissed.

Every second it passed was an opportunity less to fix her error. One second closer to chaos. Clara turned around, but she didn’t go far.

Its hands still covered its gaze, but that didn’t hide the smirk frozen on its stone lips, mocking her. A blatant reminder of her own fate signed by her imprudent plan. But deep inside her, she knew from the beginning that was the only way. The angel had to be close to her if she intended on getting any information from it. She held the sonic tightly, pressing activating it with her shaky fingers. For the kids. If there was even a tiny chance of finding them, she had to grab it.

Her eyelids shut for an instant and a pale arm spread out in front of her, the fingertips of the statue almost reaching her chest. A dead, plain grey eye was fixed on her. The sudden change made her stumble, taking a step back to recover her balance.

_“They move when you aren’t looking”._

New priorities began to take shape, her inner voice almost shouting.

_“Don’t look away, don’t blink and never, **ever** let them touch you. You’re of no use if they catch you. This is YOUR duty.” _

Her forehead muscles tensed as she tried with all her strength to keep her eyes wide open. She had held her breath for a long time in the past, sure that couldn’t be that different… right?

She raised her own hand to check the sonic; if only she could put it on in her field of vision to check the progress…

For a second, the statue went blurry.

Nothing happened.

Despite that, Clara sighed, distress taking hold of her; the sonic hadn’t collected all the information yet.

All the time she had been holding her superfluous breath. Her eyes started to water, in a crude attempt to protect themselves from the long exposition to air, not caring about the obvious. A mild movement of her eyes helped her clear the view without looking away, but that wasn’t a trick she could wield forever. The tears gathering on her lower eyelid started to burn, ascending, and threatening to cover her pupil. It _truly_ hurt, stinging every inch of her eye. Everything around her started to shake, images getting fuzzy until the tense muscles of her eyelids threatened to move, sinking her into the darkness.

With an exhalation, she finally blinked and an icy, extra pressure appeared on her neck.

When she opened her eyes, her gaze fell to that point, just to see the stone wrist too close to her. She didn’t get to see the fingers, but she could feel their touch brushing the trembling skin that covered her carotid artery. To her surprise, the cemetery was still there, unchanged, same stars shining on the sky.

The only difference was the expression of the angel. A mixture of panic and utter confusion.

Clara mirrored its uncertainty, and questions about why she was still there filled her mind.

 _“No time, get OUT!”_ Carefully, she slid under the frozen hand and staggered away, with all the strength of fear gripping her throat and stealing her breath. A few times she turned around, but the Angel didn’t follow her.

Not that his absence helped, and she kept running down the path, now almost near the exit door… She was concentrating her efforts on securing her back, when her attention would have been more useful in another direction. Another figure stood in her way, no time for her not to bump into it. A cry of shock left her throat as she staggered back, expecting another statue. She could not help but sigh in relief as the silhouette in front of her took shape.

“You _really_ thought the door of MY OWN ship would stop me?” The Doctor chided, her wide-open eyes judging her. “Can you humans stop being _so_ reckless for one single moment?!”

Clara put a lock of hair behind her ear, messy from the runaway.

“Yet you came, huh? Not _reckless_ at all, sure!” She bristled, her cheeks flushing red as she spoke. “You should have stayed on the **TARDIS** , you stupid and grumpy **man**!”

Silence grew among them, only broken by her recovering breath.

“What did you just say?” The Doctor raised an eyebrow, closing the distance and getting closer to the woman. “On the TARDIS?”

“Yeah…”, she blinked several times, “on the ship, you shouldn’t–”

“I never told you her name.” she murmured. “And I’m no man, not anymore. But you know that…” She wandered around the detective, staring at her as the girl turned around, following the Time Lord’s steps. “And don’t think I didn’t see what you did to that Angel back there…”

Clara opened her mouth, feeling the pressure of her own lies crushing her.

“Doctor, I–”

“Who are you?”

Still unable to build a proper sentence, Clara stood there in silence. That wasn’t like her, no words to fight back, no way to refute an argument. Without warning, the Doctor snatched the sonic from her hand and checked it, analyzing all the data in seconds.

“You needed me, right? Is this some kind of trap? A revenge?” She ranted, her voice rising with each question. “Who sent you? _The Master?_ Was it him?!”

Her voice trembled when she pronounced that name and her whole body cowered. The silent answer only made the rage sear through her.

“TELL ME!! ‘Cause if I’m gonna end up stuck in another time with a traitor, the least I deserve to know **WHY**!”

The echo of her yelling resounded in the night.

Clara’s gaze fell to her feet, unable to contain the frustration building up in her throat. She had betrayed the Doctor in the past, but not in that moment. Her sole objective was to protect the Time Lord, just because she cared.

A memory floated before her. _“Do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?”_

No, it didn’t make a difference back then. But it did now.

“I’m so sorry, Doctor. But… I can’t tell you.” She took a step forward. “I made a promise, and you know how important they are, right?”

The Doctor moved away as Clara tried to get closer. In the silence, the Time Lord opened her mouth to answer and spit all the doubts that flashed across her mind in that exact moment, but the sound of slow applauses behind didn’t let her.

“Oh, so emotional. Bravo,” a flat voice commented from the distance.

A new figure approached to the closed door, light filtering through the iron bars and illuminating his pale skin. Even from there they could see the black and impeccable suit covering him. A smile grew on his face, reflecting his amusement.

“Hello again, Doctor.” He rasped, his face becoming visible.

The Doctor blinked several times before rushing to the door, leaving Clara and the potential danger of the Angels behind her. Her senses were now focused on the man behind the bars.

“Krasko. _You_ , monster…” She threw herself to the bars, trying to force the door open, but it didn’t move an inch.

“Thanks for the compliment, as always. So lovely of you.” He smirked. “Oh, don’t try too hard. Deadlock sealed. Not to brag, but I improved your messy work here.”

Rage ran red through her brain, fizzing with theories about how he was there. Precisely him, who was trapped in the remote past without a trace of technology. _“How??”_ Impulsively, she threw both her hands to grab him by the jacket, but her hand closed holding only the volatile air. She had to make an effort not to hit her head with the door bars when Krasko stopped her by holding her wrist carefully.

“Wrong move, blondie,” he seethed as he snapped his fingers. “because I control this place. And I can promise that this time… you are doomed.”

He let go of her hard, making the Doctor stumble backward. In the meanwhile, he stepped away from the door with grace.

The Doctor was about to approach the bars again when a demanding call behind her made her attention shift. The world around her seemed to rush, and for the first time, she couldn’t follow its rhythm.

“Eh… Doctor?!”

In the middle of the path, Clara tried to hold every menacing statue around them with her gaze… without success. They appeared out of nowhere, too many for one person, even two. Her breath quickened as she realised the danger of the situation, and her reaction made Krasko snicker.

“Have fun with my friends!” Krasko said.

His voice faded into the shadows again, far away from the cemetery.


	6. One Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some secrets begin to unfold...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thanks for the comments! :D

“What’s happening back there, Doctor?”

The blonde didn’t turn around, focused on the mysterious figure at the other side of the door. With slow steps, Clara moved towards her, leaving the previous conversation aside. Curiosity was too strong. Halfway through, a gust of cold air came out of nowhere, blowing a dry leaf into her field of vision. That was when she saw them.

Even though they were covering their eyes, she could feel their piercing dead gaze cutting through her. Their mouths were wide open, showing some sharp fangs in a scream frozen in time.

“Eh… Doctor?!” she mumbled as she began to realize that they were surrounded.

“Nonononono, I’m sorry, Holmes.” Clara could hear her tinkering with the door behind her, accompanied by metallic noises and the comforting sound of the sonic. “I can’t open it and…”

“Doctor, I know what to do, but you have to help me.” She interrupted, tension on her tone, without taking her eyes off the statues.

“… I need to check if I can break it, I’m sure I can. I always figure things out. I must do it or else…”

The Doctor’s speech kept rushing, anxiety taking over her movements. That wasn’t her usual self, but the setting didn’t help. Too many chances of finding her own name or Holmes’ on a tomb. She wouldn’t lose anyone else to that.

“Doctor,” she repeated, remarking her words, yelling at her. “Stop and LISTEN TO ME!”

Silence took over the place, only broken by the heavy breathing of the blonde. Words weren’t leaving her mouth anymore, but thoughts still flew on her head.

“Right, sorry,” Clara apologised. “But I had no option. There’s another way out.”

“Is it??” She jumped, exclaiming with on a high pitch, pretending like her rising panic wasn’t there anymore. She was an expert on that. The Doctor strode towards the detective, also fixing her eyes on the statues. They were closer than before.

“Yeah,” Clara let a sigh escape, thankful for the help. “The old church. To be honest, I don’t know how we’re gonna reach it, but if we’re lucky, it could be open.”

“Just ‘could’?”

“Oh, don’t be picky, I thought you liked uncertainty, huh?”

“Well, yes…” the Doctor pondered. “Okay, fine. I´ll take your place: I look at them, you guide,” she held Clara’s hand in a firm grip. “Ready?”

The detective nodded without looking away, interlacing their fingers together. “Always.”

* * *

The way to the church wasn’t easy. Their movements were limited and more than one time they stumbled over the irregular rocks on the pavement. Not for one second Clara thought of letting the Doctor’s hand, and it didn’t seem like the Doctor wanted either. She held her hand tight, trying to find her fingers every time they tripped.

Mistakes like those made the angels follow them all the way.

A few more steps later and after crossing a last row of tombs, the old wall of the church appeared in front of Clara. It was taken over by the moss but, the small door in a corner could be their salvation. With a slight nudge, she warned her companion.

“You check it?”

“Sure, bit tired of the views back here. Too intrusive,” the Doctor joked, trying to stay calm.

Following the same strategy as before, the women shift places and as soon as the Doctor got rid of the statues’ presence, she rushed to the door, leaving Clara behind. Any other person would have taken that sudden flight like something personal, but she didn’t. She would have stayed behind anyway, anything for the Doctor. Against all survival instincts. But after all that time, the Doctor still had that effect on her.

The distant wail of some owls was the only sound on the night apart from the Doctor’s sonic a few metres behind her. The angels were not only lonely assassins, but also too silent for her taste. Being immortal didn’t teach Clara patience, so she started to tap her feet on the floor, hoping the Doctor would find a way to open the door.

One tap after another. _Tap, tap, tap, tap, **clac** -tap, tap_.

Clara stopped the sound and her back tightened. That wasn’t right, that noise. She didn’t make it.

A quick reflection crossed her vision field, leaving her with no time to think.

“Clara, get down!!”

The Doctor’s voice resonated on her ears and she almost fell to the ground, just in time to avoid a light beam. A horrid and high-pitched scream escaped the angel in front of her when the ray struck him, followed by an irritated “Fuck!” in the distance.

The statue had just vanished before her very eyes. Clara didn’t lose time in examining anything, because a tight hand grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her towards the door, ignoring the danger of the angels in anticipation of a greater one.

The two women rushed into the darkness of the church and while Clara tried to regain her balance, the Doctor put her back against the door, closing it behind them. With trembling hands, the Time Lord was about to secure the lock, but the rusty metal of the mechanism hadn’t withstood the onslaught and laid broken on the paved floor.

In a blink of an eye, the Doctor was already gathering some furniture and pushing it in front of the door, so Clara hurried to help her.

“Doctor, how good are these angels getting through doors?”, she asked before handing the Doctor an old chair to secure the entrance.

“Honest answer? No idea, but I won’t make it easy for them or Krasko…”

It had to be him. The Doctor had told him about the peculiar man while they headed to the church. She had no idea how he had ended up there, but if her time as a detective had taught her something, that man was surely looking for revenge.

“… Anyway, you should only worry about him.” The Doctor threw Clara a suspicious look.

Clara glanced away, seeing herself trapped on the same conversation as before.

“I swear, Doctor, I don’t know what happened back there with the angel, but-”

“Oh, don’t worry,” the Doctor clicked her tongue, cutting her off, “ now I know why.”

The Doctor closed the distance between them and without a warning, she held Clara’s arm again, her fingers wrapping around the back of her wrist. She placed them on the soft skin and locked her eyes with hers. It was then when Clara grasped the discovery. She could feel the blood rushing through the Doctor’s warm fingers against her cold skin. But nothing else.

“You’re dead, you’re of no use to them. They feed on life; you have none.” Her grip tensed up, hurting the detective, who let a moan of pain in response, but the Doctor’s attention was captured by the mystery in front of her. “Where is your heart?”

Clara hitched her hand away from the blonde, keeping it close to her chest. She could feel the weight of the promise crushing her, asphyxiating her slowly. All her lies were one on top of the other, giving shape to an unstable building that threatened to collapse at any moment.

How do you answer something like that? How do you explain you’re dead, yet alive, because the person next to you faced his whole race, went through millions of years of torture and rejected his own memories to keep you in this world?

You can’t. Not without breaking the spell.

“I lost it because I loved too deeply someone who was unreachable.” The words left her throat almost in an impulse. Seconds later, when the Doctor sighed in disapproval, Clara started to regret them.

“Holmes… I need you to be honest with me. Right now, you seem _impossible_!”

“Because **I am**!” Clara’s desperation was present on her voice. The mention of such a familiar adjective used on her didn’t help her keep her façade. “I can’t be more sincere with you.”

The creak of a heavy wooden door against the floor of broken stone echoed through the church; the main door opened wide.

This time, it was Clara who pushed the Doctor behind a column, rushing to the closest one to imitate her actions. Without taking the eyes away from the other, they both held their breath, hoping that the owner of the steps crossing the building didn’t notice them.

“Doooctor… It’s rude hiding from visitors, I know you’re here.”

Krasko advanced slowly through the nave of the church, letting his voice seep through the side aisles and the transept.

The Doctor peeked out to locate him, assessing risks at full speed. Holmes could be the biggest liar of all times, but there was something on her eyes that kept pushing the Doctor to trust her. To protect her, like she had… a duty of care. And Krasko was **her** problem, not the detective’s.

The Doctor glanced once again at Holmes and mouthed an “ _Stay here_ ” to the woman, who tried to complain in vain. The Doctor was already heading to the crossing of the church.

Still hidden behind the column, Clara cursed her.


End file.
